Issue date: 2/23/09 Section: Opinion

Media Credit: Jordan Bryan [Click to enlarge]

The anti-tobacco propaganda campaign that has cost so many people those little bits of happiness has come to College Station.

On Jan. 22, the College Station City Council banned smoking in all public places by a 6-0 unanimous vote. College Station penal code requires that the ordinance go into effect 10 days after passing, so since Feb. 1, there has been no smoking in any public place, including bars.

Proponents of the ban have cited health issues and nuisance as causes. Perhaps it is annoying to walk out of a restaurant and pass a lit cigarette, but if you actually believe that little breath will mean the end of you, you have neither the knowledge nor the intelligence to dictate the lifestyle of anyone else.

Yesterday I heard this excuse from a proponent: "I'm pro; I hate coming home from the bars smelling like smoke." There is a simple solution - don't go to bars that allow people to smoke.

Unfortunately, people with these excuses have a selfish, twisted sense of logic that makes eliminating their small annoyances more important than the freedom of everyone else. And don't try to argue that their problems could be solved by a slight change in their own behavior - we must all accommodate them. If you absolutely cannot abstain from a trip to the bars on Saturday night, you might have to put up with a little secondhand smoke. I don't smoke, I go to bars, I breathe. The smoke is understood. The beauty of our free society is that you don't have to go to those bars. The free market thrives on the fact that you can choose where you want to have your fun. If you can't find a place that's suitable, you can start one and, according to proponents of the ban, your business will thrive regardless.

Maybe it's not about the bars. Maybe there are just too many self-righteous people in the population and our governments who think they know what's best for us. You know the ones. Under the guise of "helping the children" or "for the public health," they seek to control any behavior that might put an individual at risk. If we need so badly to eliminate smoking, why don't we eliminate other risky behaviors like skydiving, bungee jumping or dirt biking? And how about alcohol? Prohibition wasn't a proud chapter in our history, if memory serves me well.

Continued...

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